Joe sacrificed last season, MAYBE

this coming season will be pegged as a rebuilding year as well. Whatever we do this summer- it will be difficult to get to the level of Orlando, Cleveland, Boston or Chicago. Paraphrasing Joe D, we could continue to put ourselves in a position to make it to the Conference Finals or we could rebuild and give ourselves a legitimate hope at a championship.

The Mullens promise rumor just got me thinking that Joe is looking for next summer to make his splash. Why not just ride Mullens into the lottery next June? Get a high pick, save your cap space, build for the future, and put yourself in a position to get a high profile player next summer.

We could add a player like Channing Frye who after his rookie year I thought could be an All-Star. He seems like the sort of underappreaciated player Joe D would be interested in. Gortat could be an option at center.

Sometimes you have to lose in order to win. Take a step back to take a step forward. Kiss some frogs, to find your prince. Ok maybe not that last one. While I don't mind the idea of signing a couple of players like Gordon and Boozer and then trading Rip to find a center...I don't like the idea of letting a suspect free agent crop force you into making decisions.

Right now it seems like our only options are Ben Gordon, Paul Millsap, Carlos Boozer, Hedo Turkolgu, Lamar Odom or Trevor Ariza.

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Out of the list of the next year's FAs, only a couple may peak interest. Pistons need an impact player. Amare is one of them. Joe Johnson got completely bottled up in the playoffs. I am not too high on Howard and Jefferson. Redd is a great scorer, but nothing beyond that. Nash, Shaq, and Ginobili all seen better days. And McGrady, Ford, and Camby are always on the DL, if not count the age getting up there. So, I don't know if next year will offer those grand opportunities to make the team a competitor.

Well I guess there is no pleasing you. I think McGrady would be a great fit here at the right price....he definitely isn't a max type player. He's quickly becoming Allan Houston. TJ Ford, Mike Miller, Josh Howard and Amare seem like very good fits to me.

I think that was Dave's point. Head to the lottery for a year and come back to the pack in 2010-11.

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1. Its called a lottery for a reason.

2. Even serial lottery winner's are no lock to rise to the top, even several years on. Witness the Clippers. OK, they don't count.

Witness the plight of the Bulls. It's only now, after SEVERAL years of drafting at or towards the top, that they seem to have created some respectability that will endure for a few seasons. But they are probably one ping pong ball gone astray from not being so respectable so. And we would hardly call them a team at the head of the pack now would we?

Another example: when we drafted Grant Thrill (pick #2?), we became a PO team again, but did we ever even get a sniff at the ECFs?

Well I guess there is no pleasing you. I think McGrady would be a great fit here at the right price....he definitely isn't a max type player. He's quickly becoming Allan Houston. TJ Ford, Mike Miller, Josh Howard and Amare seem like very good fits to me.

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No amount of hallucinogenic drugs could afford my mind the ability to manufacture a situation where MacGrady would be a "great fit" in Detroit.

...and I CAN indeed be pleased.

I'll be pleased I Joe decides to use any combination of trade assets and/or cap space to sign/aquire any combination of the "yes" players that I mentioned (or even a few of the "no" guys if they can be had for the right price).

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]- All you Joe Dumars bashers are about to find out that you don't criticize NBA trades until all the pieces are finalized. After buying out Fabricio Oberto (acquired from Milwaukee for Amir Johnson on Tuesday), Dumars will have $18-$20 million to spend on free agents this summer. Carlos Boozer or Hedo Turkoglu might find what Dumars has to offer rather enticing, considering the Pistons currently have only three players under contract for 2010-11. That means plenty of space to add another marquee free agent in the mother of all free-agent summers. [/FONT]

I agree with the premise, but I think Joe is allergic to rebuilding seasons and will go for broke in the FA market this year. I can see a starting lineup of : Stuckey, Rip, Tay, Boozer, and Mullen with Gordon playing significant minutes as the 6th man.

Good enough to get to the playoffs again, but that's not a championship team.

I agree with the premise, but I think Joe is allergic to rebuilding seasons and will go for broke in the FA market this year. I can see a starting lineup of : Stuckey, Rip, Tay, Boozer, and Mullen with Gordon playing significant minutes as the 6th man.

Good enough to get to the playoffs again, but that's not a championship team.

You really don't want to know, ignoring my gut instinct to trade for Darko and resign Delfino, I'd offer any two of Rip, Tay, and Stuckey to get Rubio. I'd draft Daye. I'd sign Lee. And combine who's leftover from the Rubio trade and the rest of our picks to move up to get Mullens.

We have: Rubio/Bynum Dime a dozen 2 to be picked at random Daye/Aflalo Lee/Jmax Mullens/Brown

Playoffs next year? maybe, but the team is back to an upswing, and still cap space to sign someone else.